Somali pirates: villains or victims?

The proliferation of piracy activity off the coast of Somalia has received a fair share of international attention. Its consequences have included a destabilising effect on trade, security and humanitarian aid. This has served to give reason for the deployment of multi-national forces by some of the countries affected by the scourge. While naval patrols have reduced the success rate of piracy attacks in some areas, there has been little respite in piracy incidents with the overall number of attacks and their geographic scope increasing. Piracy off the coast of Somalia has, in fact, evolved into organised syndicates with transnational networks. The problem is that various international actors have largely viewed piracy off the coast of Somalia in terms of threats to their own national interests and security. They have, thus, dealt with the issue in isolation from its wider context, which has not succeeded in ending the attacks. This article argues that to deal with the piracy problem more meaningfully, there is need for a contextual framework beyond addressing the ‘illegal’ activities. Piracy is a complex problem, with political, legal, social, economic, security and even human rights dimensions, and calls for a truly holistic approach that, especially, seeks to address the root causes on land. The article calls for a change in strategies in order to facilitate a ‘local Somali solution’ rather than an international one that is acceptable to the sensibilities of international actors. The article emphasises the need to extend the strong international cooperation demonstrated on the high seas in the fight against piracy to the fight against root causes of piracy onshore.     

建设我国高素质行政执法队伍的宏观构想

行政执法队伍是党的执政队伍的重要组成部分,是推进党的事业发展的坚强基石。坚持和发展中国特色社会主义,关键在于建设一支政治坚定、能力过硬、作风优良、奋发有为的执政骨干队伍。本文从社会主义法治理念的角度分析了我国行政执法过程中存在的主要问题,提出了建设我国高素质行政执法队伍的总体思路和宏观构想。     

Buried voices: Mexican migrants’ views on the question of illegality

How do immigrant Mexican workers perceive the policies and social discourses that regulate their insertion into American society as noncitizens and illegals? Using ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, evidence is presented that unauthorized Mexican migrants do not consider themselves lawbreakers but rather moral actors responding to difficult socioeconomic conditions. Informed by a keen understanding of the social forces oppressing them, these migrants articulate a discourse of social justice that works as a powerful counterpoint to the hegemonic ideas of citizenship, belonging, and illegality. A careful analysis of migrant social reflexivity offers a much-needed corrective to the prevailing top-down perspective typically offered among contemporary scholars. By looking at the ways in which migrants make sense of immigration policies and articulate their right to have rights, this examination departs from the widespread tendency among scholars and policy makers of analyzing the migrant’s social and civic status as a matter of assimilation and immigration control.     

论刑事诉讼中的电子数据

2012年修改的《刑事诉讼法》将电子数据首次规定为法定证据种类,但电子数据的相关证据规则仍不够完善。我国现有关于电子数据的研究多集中于电子数据取证、鉴定等技术方法,缺少对电子数据证据能力、证明力及证据规则的研究。从电子数据在司法实践中存在的问题出发,在电子数据的证据属性,电子数据的鉴真、鉴定,非法证据排除规则等几个方面探讨如何加强对电子数据的证据限制问题。     

On the Resilience of Illegal Drug Markets

This paper argues that the concept of resilience is a fruitful way of understanding the impact of repressive policies on illegal drug markets. For the purpose of this article, resilience is defined as the ability of market participants to preserve the existing levels of exchanges between buyers and sellers, despite external pressure aimed at disrupting the trade. The first part of the paper highlights how some of the core features of illegal drug markets, a decentralized structure and high prices, contribute to increasing their resilience to attacks. The second part develops a framework that can be used to compare markets on the basis of their resilient properties. Some of the empirical and policy implications of the framework are discussed in the conclusion.     

执法办案风险评估预警工作的困境与对策研究

上海检察机关自2011年开展执法办案风险评估预警工作。从风险评估、风险预警、风险处置三个方面对该项工作的现状作出分析,对实践中存在的困境进行研究,并提出相应的对策。     

警察执法作战指挥训练方法构成探索

警察执法作战指挥训练方法是保证训练效果的重要因素。由于警察执法作战指挥训练内容的广博性,以及训练对象的多层次性,警察执法作战指挥训练的方法构成应具有很大的灵活性,探索其训练方法构成,对有效提高训练效益,提高警察指挥员的指挥能力具有重大作用和现实意义。     

行政执法证据刑事司法化的现实性浅析

刑事诉讼法在立法层面上首次对行政执法证据司法化予以肯定,但是行政执法证据如何向刑事司法证据合理转化,转化后司法机关如何使用,以及证明效力的延续性等我国法律实践中亟需解决的难题却没有得到根本解决。文章分析了行政执法证据向刑事司法证据转化的必要性和证据转化的种类、方法、规则等,并提出对司法实践具有积极意义的证据转化制度。     

监狱执法人员免责机制初探

监狱作为维护社会稳定和政治延续的统治工具,一直默默地发挥着它不可或缺的功能。近年来一系列社会热门事件的发生,使监狱备受瞩目。尤其在信息公开透明且传播迅速的社会里,监狱的安全稳定也成为社会稳定的前提要件。监狱如何构建科学公正的监狱执法人员免责机制,则成为相关理论界与实务界人士共同关注的新视角。     

Environmental crime prosecutions in Ireland, 2004–2014

Despite increased interest in environmental crime and green criminology, few studies address the use of criminal penalties in response to environmental crimes. A handful of published examples employ data from the United States or the Flanders court system, and little is known about how other nations punish environmental violations. Addressing this issue, the current study examined the use of criminal environmental penalties in Ireland from 2004 to 2014. Few criminal environmental cases (N = 147) and few environmental offenders (N = 154) were represented in these data over time. Consistent with the expectations of green/environmental crime researchers, mean penalties for environmental violations, which in Ireland only include fines and investigative cost recovery penalties, were rather small. Unlike in the US or Flanders, the majority of offenders were corporate offenders as opposed to individuals. Contextual factors related to Ireland’s economy, history and use of criminal sanctions should be used to interpret these factors, and prevent generalising from these data.